Integrated chemical laboratory toy



Oct. 24, 1967 K ETAL INTEGRATED CHEMICAL LABORATORY TOY Filed Feb. 5, 1964 INVENTORS MIR/17M X102 United States Patent 3,348,921 INTEGRATED CHEMIAL LABORATURY TOY Miriam Katz and Jacob Katz, both of 2905 S. Sepulveda, Los Angeles, Calif. 90064 Filed Feb. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 342,215 11 Claims. (Cl. 23-259) This invention relates generally to toys and more particularly to a chemical laboratory especially adapted for use by children.

It has for a long time past in the prior art been desirable to provide means whereby children, through the utilization of play or similar equipment, can be introduced to various educational concepts particularly those relating to the sciences such as chemistry. Although such has been in the past quite desirable it has none the less been quite impractical particularly where small children are involved. This impracticality results from the fact that it was necessary to construct a chemical laboratory before the carrying out of experiments. Such construction was accomplished by bringing together a large number of separate and distinct pieces of equipment. The separate and distinct pieces of equipment then were supported upon a framework through the use of stands, clamps and similar material. Each of the individual pieces were then interconnected by the use of glass piping or similar such material. All of the foregoing not only constituted a very laborious process and thus one not very attractive to children but in addition thereto it created an unsightly array. In addition thereto very close supervision was usually required during the construction and cleanup as well as during the use of such prior art equipment. Another factor which was encountered is the utilization of large numbers of glass containers and interconnecting apparatus thus introducing some breakage and as well unsafe conditiions particularly where small children were concerned.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a chemical laboratory which is integrated into a self-supporting member, which is unbreakable and readily utilizable by children.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an integrated chemical laboratory which is capable of being reused a large number of times in a realistic manner with complete safety for small children.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a chemical laboratory which is integrated and which is readily utilizable in the instruction of small children without constant or close supervision.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which are presented by way of example only and are not intended as a limitation upon the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an integrated chemical laboratory in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view in cross section illustrating a preferred structure of an integrated chemical laboratory in accordance with the present invention FIG. 3 illustrates various items utilized with the structure as illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a chart which is utilizable with the structure in FIG. 1.

A chemical laboratory in accordance with one aspect of the present invention includes a support member having a plurality of hollow protrusions extending outwardly therefrom. These protrusions define a plurality of discrete cavities each adapted for containing fluid. Each of the ice protrusions defines an opening therethrough adapted to receive plug means in sealing engagement therewith. Conduit means is utilized for interconnecting predetermined ones of said cavities to provide fluid communication therebetween.

An integrated chemical laboratory for use by children must be equipped for the transport of fluids from cavity to cavity as desired without danger or difliculty. In prior art apparatus of the type above described, such transport is usually accomplished by gravity, which may be used in the present invention, or by blowing through a tube directly into a container of the fluid to be transported. Obviously the latter could not be used with children.

Furthermore, provision should be made for easy and ready cleaning the laboratory to facilitate their use there of. This latter feature along with the desired transport of fluids also preferably requires provision for pressure manipulation within each cavity or chamber along with means for emptying the contents thereof either with pressure manipulation or gravity flow.

Particularly, when small children are using the laboratory of the present invention, it has been found desirable to employ instructional material capable of easy yet detachable attachment thereto. Such instructional material may preferably take the form of schematic diagrams, flow charts, or the like descriptive of a particular experiment.

Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to provide an integrated chemical laboratory capable of transporting fluids from chamber to chamber thereof through the use of pressure manipulation while at the same time precluding contact of such fluid by the user of the laboratory.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated chemical laboratory adapted to receive instructional material in intimate association therewith.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated chemical laboratory having a plurality of chambers each of which includes at least two paths of communication therewith.

Therefore, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a chemical laboratory constructed of a transparent member having a planar face and protrusions extending outwardly from the opposite face thereof each defining a discrete cavity or chamber adapted to contain fluids. Each of the protrusions defines at least two openings therethrough each of which is adapted to receive plug means in sealing engagement therewith. Pump means is provided and includes an expansible and contractable bladder housed within a chamber connectable with any of said discrete cavities or chambers thereby to manipulate the pressure therein. Conduit means is interconnectable with predetermined ones of said discrete chamber by way of said openings for providing fluid communication therebetween.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated generally at 10 an integrated chemical laboratory in accordance with the present invention. The integrated laboratory includes a support member 11 which has a plurality of protrusions extending outwardly therefrom as is clearly illustrated. The various protrusions extending outwardly from the support member 11 may take any shape which is desired such as for example, an Erlenmeyer flask 14, test tubes 15, flask 16, a beaker 17 having an open upper top 18, or any other form which is desired.

As is illustrated in FIG. 1, the support member 11 may be constructed of a base member 12 having affixed to one side thereof a sheet of material 13 having a plurality of protrusions formed therein. Each of the protrusions, irrespective of form, define, in conjunction with the base 3 member 12, a discrete cavity or chamber adapted to contain fluid. Preferably both the base member, 12 and the sheet of material 13 are transparent for purposes more fully explained below.

The protrusions provided in the sheet 13 may be formed in any manner which is desired and preferably extend outwardly from the base member 12 in one direction only. Such a structure is for example, illustrated in FIG. 2 to which reference is hereby made. As is illustrated in FIG. 2 a planar member 21 is utilized and constitutes a major support or base for the integrated chemical laboratory toy in accordance with the present invention and is therefore of greater thickness than the remaining material. Although the support for the chemical laboratory is provided by the thicker base member 21 it should be understood that such support can also be obtained through the use of reenforcing by corrugating, attaching ribs, or the like. A second sheet of material 22 has a plurality of convex areas discretely formed therein as illustrated at 23. These discrete convex areas 23 may be formed in any manner desired as by stamping, vacuum forming, or the like. By so doing any desired configuration or form may be achieved for each of the discrete convex areas 23.

The planarv base 21 and the sheet 22 are disposed in juxtaposed relationship and the opposed surfaces thereof have mutual areas of engagement when brought together. These mutual areas of engagement may then be joined in any manner desired, such as by heat sealing or the use of well known adhesives, to form a plurality of discrete cavities or chambers defined by the opposed now-joined surfaces of the base 21' and the convex areas 23. Each of the discrete cavities communicates with the atmosphere through an opening defined by convex area 23 as is illustrated for example at 24 and 25 and which is adapted to receive a plug in sealing engagement therewith. These openings are utilized in a manner which will be described more fully hereinafter. As is clearly ascertainable from FIG. 2, a structure formed by utilizing the planar base member21 and the sheet of material 22 having the various protrusions or discrete convex areas 23 formed there in provides, when joined together, a chemical laboratory in which the cavities are formed by protrusions extending outwardly in one direction only from the base member.

In order to utilize the integrated chemical laboratory in accordance .with the present invention conduit means is utilized to connect various of the cavities formed as above described. The conduit means may take various,

manner as to readily and easily sealingly engage the open-- ings formed by the protrusions extending outwardly from the base member. In addition thereto all openings within a particular protrusion that is to be used in an experiment are normally plugged either by a tube being connected thereto or by a special plug formed for that purpose. In addition thereto valves, special plugs, T connections and similar such apparatus may be utilized in conjunction with the integrated chemical laboratory of the present invention. Such apparatus is illustrated by way of example on FIG. 3 to which reference is hereby made.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 conduit means such as a tube may comprise a flexible center member 41 having a terminal end in the form of a stopper or plug 42, having a frusto-conical form. The sloping surface 43 of the frustoconical plug serves the purpose of being readily inserted into the various openings by a small child and also readily forming a seal with the opening formed in the protrusion even though the plug or the opening may not be perfectly round. Where desirable the plug may be setback from the terminal end of the tube 41 as is-illustrated by the plug 44 thus leaving a length 45 at the terminal end of the tube extending outwardly from the plug. The terminal end 45 of the tube is sufficiently long to reach from an opening in the top of any of the cavities to the bottom thereof, thus providing a tube which is capable of drawing liquid from the bottom of any of the chambersformed by the protrusions. A plug-for sealing any of the openings not being utilized is illustrated-at 46 in FIG. 3 and as shown takes the form of a frusto-conical member similar to the terminal end of the tube 41 which however is solid and which has a handle 47 extending therefrom, so that it can be readily grasped by the child during use thereof.

It is sometimes desirable to provide a plurality of openings into one of the cavities formed as above described. Under such circumstances a plug as illustrated at 48 having two tubes 49 and 51 extending therethrough and terminating in a pair of openings can be utilized. In this manner a single opening formed in the protrusion defining a cavity can be converted into two discrete openings for purposes which would become apparent to one skilled in the art.

It may also be desirable from time to time to inject a measured amount of a liquid or gas only at a predeter-. mined time in a desired experiment. When such is desired, valve means: may be used such as is illustrated at 52 in FIG. 3 and includes a cylindrical member or sleeve 53 having a rotatable ball 54 disposed therein which ball defines an opening 55 therethrough. The ball 54 is rotatable by the wing nut 56 aflixed thereto so that when the ball 54 is in the position as illustrated liquid or gas may flow through the opening 55 but when turned through an angle of 90 degrees the opening 55 is sealed against the Y walls of the sleeve 53.

From time to time it may be desirable to direct a particular fluid to more than one destination simultaneously. Under these circumstances a T connector such as is illustrated at'57 in FIG. 3 may be utilized. Such a T connector includes a pair of hollow cylinders 58 and 59 which are interconnected to provide orthogonal fluid flow pathsas is well known.

The terminal ends of the valve 52 and the T connector 57 are each designed to receive plug in sealing relationship therewith such as that'illustrated at 46 or the terminal end of a tube such as that illustrated at 42 or 44.

Although all liquids and some gases are transportable from one cavity to another in the integrated chemical laboratory of the present invention by gravity flow it often becomes desirable to cause the transportation of such liquids or gases irrespective of gravity. Therefore, there is provided as a part of the chemical laboratory a pump means illustrated in FIG. 1 generally at 61. Such pump means includes a protrusion 62 defining a cavity which is integrally carried by the support member 11 and which has an opening therein (to which the lower end of tube 31 is attached). A flexible elastic member such as a bladder 63 is inserted internally of the protrusion 62 and is sealed to a second opening 64 formed therein. A neck 65 of the bladder 63 extends externally of the cavity formed by the protrusion 62. The neck 65 is adaptedfor connection to means for expanding and contracting the bladder as desired such as a bulb or bellows or alternatively atube through which the user of the laboratory can blow.

It should be noted that upon expansion of the bladder 63 the air is forced out of the cavity formed by the protrusion 62 thus creating a greater than atmospheric pres Although as is illustrated in FIG. 1 an integrated chemical laboratory in accordance with the present invention may include several cavities of various forms thereon, in carrying out most experiments only a few of them will be utilized. It is therefore desirable particularly for small children to provide instructional material to assist in interconnection of the desired containers in a proper manner for carrying out a particular experiment. For such a purpose a diagram such as that illustrated in FIG. 4 may be provided upon a large sheet of paper of substantially the same dimension as the support member 11 and which may be detachably aflixed to the rear surface of the support member 11. In such manner the user can then interconnect with the proper conduits and other apparatus the various cavities as desired for the experiment. For example, as is diagrammatically indicated in FIG. 4, the pump means 61 is connected by a tube 62 to the flask 63, which in turn is connected by a tube 64 to a burette 65, which in turn is connected by a tube 66 having a valve 67 interposed therein alternatively to test tubes 68 and 69. Written instructions for this experiment can then be utilized in conjunction with the diagram as shown in FIG. 4 for carrying out the experiment as desired.

By way of illustration only, the chemical laboratory in accordance with the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 1 is interconnected for carrying out a simple experiment which illustrates the removal of oxide from copper. As is illustrated the pump 61 is interconnected by way of tube 31 to a beaker 71. A second tube 72 has one end thereof connected to the beaker 71. The tube 72 has previously been used by inserting the other end thereof into an external container (not shown) of a saturated salt solution to partially fill the beaker 71 with the salt solution as is illustrated at 73. The end of the tube 72 was then inserted into conduit means 32. The opposite end of the conduit means 72 is connected, by way of a tube 73, with the open end 18 of the beaker 17. It should be noted that all of the remaining openings within the conduit means 32 are plugged by use of plugs 74. The graduated burette tube 75 has in a manner similar to that above described, been previously filled with vinegar as is illustrated at 76 and has a tube 77 having a valve 78 therein connected to the lower end of the burette tube 75 with the other end inserted into the open upper end 18 of the beaker 17. Inserted into the bottom of the beaker 17 is a plurality of copper members such as pennies 79.

The beaker 71 and the burette tube 75 were each filled in the following manner. With the tube 31 interconnected between the pump 61 and the beaker 71, the tube 72 was inserted into the external container of saturated salt solution. The bladder 63 was then inflated until the cavity formed by the protrusion 62 Was filled thereby. At this point the bladder 63 was allowed to contract thus creating a partial vacuum within the beaker 71. The partial vacuum, being pressure less than that upon the surface of the saturated salt solution in the external container (which of course is atmospheric), causes the saturated salt solution to leave the external container, travel through the tube 72, and into the beaker 71 as illustrated. As soon as the solution is within the beaker 71 the tube is immediately inserted into the conduit means 32 as illustrated in FIG. 1. A similar procedure is carried out with respect to the burette 75 with the exception that the valve means 78 is utilized to permit the flow of vinegar only until a predetermined measured amount has been transferred into the burette at which time the valve 78 is shut off.

With the apparatus in the position as illustrated in FIG. 1 the bladder 63 is expanded thus forcing the air contained internally within the cavity formed by the protrusion 62 to enter into the upper portion of the cavity formed by the protrusion 71 above the salt solution 73, thus increasing the pressure therein. The increased pressure causes the salt solution to flow through the tube 72 through the conduit 32 and outwardly therefrom through the tube 73 and into the bottomof the beaker 17. The pressure is thus maintained and the flow of the salt solution continued until the pennies 79 are covered with the salt solution. At this point the bladder 63 is allowed to contract thus withdrawing any solution remaining in the conduit 32 and relieving the pressure internally of the cavity formed by the protrusion 71. The upper end of the tube 31 is then removed from the beaker 71 and is attached to the opening 81 in the upper portion of the burette 75. The procedure above outlined is then repeated to transfer a predetermined amount of the vinegar contained within the burette 75 through the tube 77 and into the salt solution covering the pennies 79 within the open beaker 17. When the desired amount of vinegar has thus been transferred the valve 78 is closed and the bladder 63 allowed to contract after the tube 31 has been removed from the opening 81. Interaction between the salt and the vinegar creates a chemical compound which within a short time removes the oxide from the pennies leaving them bright and shiny.

There has thus been disclosed an integrated chemical laboratory which is self-supporting, visually pleasing to the user since it is formed of transparent material thus enabling the user to readily see and understand what is transpiring, is unbreakable and therefore safe to use and can be readily cleaned and reused.

Although the foregoing description has disclosed only one specific embodiment of a chemical laboratory in accordance with the present invention it is to be expressly understood that such disclosure was by way of example only and is not intended as a limitation upon the scope of the invention as defined in the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. A chemical laboratory comprising: a support member; a plurality of protrusions extend-ing outwardly from said support member and defining a plurality of discrete cavities each adapted to contain a fluid; and conduit means for interconnecting predetermined cavities to provide fluid communication therebetween.

2. A chemical laboratory comprising: a planar base member; a plurality of protrusions extending from said base member and forming therewith a plurality of discrete cavities; each of said protrusions defining an opening therethrough; and conduit means for interconnecting predetermined cavities to provide fluid communication therebetween.

3. A chemical laboratory as defined in claim 2 in which said protrusions are formed of a transparent material.

4. A chemical laboratory comprising: a planar base member; a plurality of protrusions extending from said base member and forming therewith a plurality of discrete cavities; each of said protrusions defining an opening therethrough; a flexible elastic member adapted for expansion and contraction disposed within one of said cavities for transmitting pressure variations to preselected cavities; and conduit means for interconnecting predetermined cavities to provide fluid communication therebetween.

5. A chemical laboratory comprising: a planar base member of transparent material; a sheet of transparent material having a plurality of discrete convex areas formed therein, each of said areas defining an opening therethrough; said base member and said sheet of material being joined at points of mutual engagement to form a plurality of discrete cavities; a flexible elastic member adapted for expansion and contraction disposed within one of said cavities for transmitting pressure variations to preselected cavities; and conduit means for interconnecting predetermining cavities to provide fluid communication therebetween.

6. A chemical laboratory as defined in claim 5 in which said base member is sufliciently rigid to support said laboratory in a substantially vertical position.

7. A chemicallaboratory as defined in claim in which said sheet of material has outer dimensions substantially equal to those of said base member and is heatsealed at said points of mutual engagement.

8. A chemical laboratory comprising: a planar base member of transparent material; a sheet of transparent material having a plurality of discrete convex areas formed therein, and having outer dimensions substantially those of said base member; each of said areas defining an opening therethrough; said base member and said sheet of material being joined at points of mutual engagement to form'a plurality of discrete cavities; said rigid attachment being formed by heat sealing said areas of mutual engagement; a flexible elastic member adapted for expansion and contraction disposed within one of said cavities for transmitting pressure variations to preselected cavities; and flexible tubing having a plug adjacent each terminal end thereof adaptable for sealing engagement with each said opening in predetermined areas to provide fluid communication between said cavities.

9. A chemical laboratory as defined in claim 8 which further includes conduit means formed by convex areas of said sheet material and having a plurality of openings formed therein.

10. A chemical laboratory as defined in claim 8 in which each of said convex areas defines at least two openings therethrough and one of said convex areas defines when joined with said base an open ended cavity.

solid material, said base member having a thickness sub-,

stantially, greater than that of said sheet of material; an expansible and contractible elastic bladder disposed within and confined by one of said protrusions and having the opening thereto disposed externally of said one confining protrusion for expanding and contracting said bladder; and flexible tubular conduits having plug members disposed adjacent each end thereof interconnecting predetermined cavities to. provide fl-uid communication therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,890,939 12/1932 Fahrney 23-259 FOREIGN PATENTS 76,815 2/ 1918 Switzerland.

MORRIS O. WOLK, PrimaryExaminer.

R. E. SERWIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CHEMICAL LABORATORY COMPRISING: A SUPPORT MEMBER; A PLURALITY OF PROTRUSIONS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID SUPPORT MEMEBER AND DEFINING A PLURALITY OF DISCRETE CAVITIES EACH ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A FLUID; AND CONDUIT MEANS FOR INTERCONNECTING PREDETERMINED CAVITIES TO PROVIDE FLUID COMMUNICATION THEREBETWEEN. 